Showtime shifts strategy

It’s not HBO. It’s Showtime.

Showtime, having chafed at living in the shadow of that other pay TV service, is revising its programming strategy, funneling more resources into series while slashing its output of original movies -- another blow to the made-for-TV movie industry.

After once seeking to stand apart by offering what was billed as “a new movie every week,” Showtime now admits the sheer volume of that approach may have been counterproductive. Instead, the pay service will try to extend the relative success it has enjoyed with niche-oriented programs, such as the gay serial “Queer as Folk” and African American family drama “Soul Food.” New series planned include a show with magician-comics Penn & Teller and the ensemble drama “Earthlings,” centering on a group of lesbian friends in Los Angeles.

By doing so, Showtime will adhere to a formula HBO adopted years ago that led to such channel-defining shows as “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City.” One TV agent said Showtime suffers from “Avis syndrome,” referring to the No. 2 rental-car company.

Jerry Offsay, the network’s president of programming, said the challenge is to “make people feel like they’re missing something if they don’t have Showtime,” adding in regard to HBO, “Our job is to convince people that we’ve got stuff that’s worth watching, also.”

Showtime has determined that original series represent the best way to achieve that goal -- especially with feature films, once pay TV’s main attraction, available on video, DVD and pay-per-view before reaching the channel.

To shift its emphasis toward series, Showtime is cutting its TV movie production to 14 for the coming year, down from three times that many just a few years ago. “Something had to give somewhere,” Offsay said, adding that the overall programming budget would still increase.

Part of that has to do with the fact that Showtime intends to spend $6 million to $7 million on the movies it does make -- as opposed to the $4-million productions that were being churned out -- and allocate more for marketing them. HBO has attempted to fill a void between blockbuster features and TV with bigger-budgeted movies, such as the recent “Path to War,” which cost $17 million.

Dan Paulson, who has produced more than a dozen Showtime films, said he welcomed Showtime’s focus on fewer but bigger projects.

“It raises the bar for us as producers,” he said. “They want to take chances. Everything is so cluttered, you sort of have to do that to get attention.”

The shift will nevertheless exact a toll on writers, actors, producers and directors who have worked on Showtime films -- though not necessarily local technical employees, since most of its production is done in Canada to lower costs.

CBS, NBC and ABC have cut back TV movie orders as well, offset only in part by an increase in films for smaller cable channels such as ESPN and VH1. “It’s not a good time to be a TV movie producer,” Offsay said.